Ever since the US Government saved the American auto industry from the abyss through a bail out that kept millions of jobs from being lost, the Republican Party has bitterly bashed the action, especially since President Obama took over the Oval Office. The GOP believes that the American auto industry should have been allowed to fail and had they gotten their wish, millions of Americans would have become unemployed and the American economy would have collapsed even more.

On Tuesday, President Obama answered his Republican critics while speaking to the United Auto Workers convention in Washington DC and defended the American industry along with the workers who continue to make it thrive. Here is part of what Obama said, via Huffington Post.

“It’s been funny to watch some of these politicians completely rewrite history now that you’re back on your feet,” President Obama said. “These are the folks who said if we went forward with our plan to rescue Detroit, “You can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye.” Now they’re saying they were right all along. Or worse, they’re saying that the problem is that you, the workers, made out like bandits in all of this; that saving the American auto industry was just about paying back unions. Really? Even by the standards of this town, that’s a load of you-know-what. About 700,000 retirees saw a reduction in the health care benefits they had earned. Many of you saw hours reduced, or pay and wages scaled back. You gave up some of your rights as workers. Promises were made to you over the years that you gave up for the sake and survival of this industry, its workers, and their families. You want to talk about values? Hard work — that’s a value. Looking out for one another — that’s a value. The idea that we’re all in it together — that I am my brother’s keeper; I am my sister’s keeper — that is a value.

But they’re still talking about you as if you’re some greedy special interest that needs to be beaten. Since when are hardworking men and women special interests? Since when is the idea that we look out for each other a bad thing? To borrow a line from our old friend Ted Kennedy: What is it about working men and women they find so offensive?”

President Obama also talked about the dire consequences the American auto industry faced had it not been bailed out.

“If we had turned our backs on you; if America had thrown in the towel; GM and Chrysler wouldn’t exist today. The suppliers and distributors that get their business from those companies would have died off, too. Then even Ford could have gone down as well. Production: shut down. Factories: shuttered. Once proud companies chopped up and sold off for scraps. And all of you – the men and women who built these companies with your own hands — would’ve been hung out to dry.”

Soon after the address, Mitt Romney’s campaign released a statement claiming that President Obama has caused job losses in Michigan, despite the fact that the Michigan economy would have gone down in flames had the auto industry been allowed to fail as Romney has consistently advocated.

“President Obama has failed Michigan. On his watch, thousands of Michiganders have lost their jobs, homes and businesses. No other candidate cares for Michigan or the automotive industry like Mitt Romney does, and he is heartbroken to see what has happened to his native state.”

Here’s the video:

This is a great fight for President Obama to take on against Republicans. If the current Republican Presidential candidates and the GOP Congress had their way, America would no longer have a viable auto industry and millions of American workers would be out of work. Since the bail out, the American auto industry is stronger than ever and is beginning to hire more workers. Perhaps this is the reason why Republican object to the industry so much. Because it is giving people jobs and strengthening the economy.